• Web: Open Template as Document

    • This topic has 14 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 24 years ago.
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    #352340

    Hi–

    How do I explain this? Well, I need to keep a template on the web. But when the user clicks on it, I need it to open as a document.

    Right now, if you click on a web link to a template, it opens in Word but in template form. I need to find a way to have the template open in Document form.

    Does anyone know a way to do this? Is there a switch or something?

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    • #512131

      Hmmm… Well, you don’t mention which browser you use, etc. Typically, Word will not open a template as a template, unless you are accessing from Word. This behavior is, indeed, strange. Another option may be to set the template to read only, which would at least prevent it from being overwritten.

      • #512132

        Which browser? Internet Explorer 4.

        The problem I’m having is the intranet is the place they want to store everything. I don’t have a choice about it, at least not at the moment.

        So there are no switches or anthing like that?

        • #512177

          Untried suggestion – What if the file on the intranet server was made read-only? It could even be a .doc rather than a .dot file.

      • #512133

        Karen,

        If you click on a template from Windows NT explorer, it will open a document based on the template.

        One way to get around it might be to rename the template as a “.doc”.

        The other way would be, from the Explorer, “tools, Folder Options, File Types”, select “Microsoft Word Template”, click on edit, and remove “New” from the list of actions.

        • #512149

          Hmmm, very creative, but I don’t think TPTB would let me do it. 🙁

          • #512151

            They won’t let you try either approach?

            Obviously, your powers have more powers than my powers’ powers.

            • #512155

              And I’ll up your powers’ powers by ! So there.

              Seriously, Geoff… I guess I’m misreading Cecilia’s original request. I thought she wanted the template on the webserver to act as it would if you were to open with File / New — a document based on the template.

              Cecilia — I mentioned the browser only insofar as it pertains to utilizing plug-ins. It’s not unusual for someone to not realize they are actually in WordView (which looks very similar) and not the Winword.

              As to where the switches are, I really can’t say — I don’t believe it’s just simple file associations though because TPTB at my office have us configured to launch WordView from e-mail and/or IE; but Winword from Explorer.

              I’m sorry I can be of more help

            • #512262

              LOLOL Yes, my powers are the government, and as you must know, whether they’re right or wrong, my powers are always right, unyielding and unbending. Grrrrr.

              I think you had my question right from the start. Now I’m thinking I didn’t explain enough. The template in question is a protected “form”: And because it’s protected, I had to write the code to spell check, and another code to update the headers (which are bookmarks of the first page–And this is a whole other story regarding TPTB’s decisions and how I can’t set their settings to Update Fields at Print, kinda comical, too ;-). Traditionally, they store these Word 97 documents on the intranet server as documents. So when people download them to use them, the code associated with the original template isn’t there, then they can’t spell check or update headers. (And I’ve tried like heck to come up with an un-protected version of the form, but no luck.)

              So, what I need is a way to store the template on the web server and when the user clicks on it, it opens as a document with the programming intact.

              But now that I’ve written all this out and I’m thinking about it, it might not work at all because once they’re separate from the web server, the document would again be separated from the code in the template.

              Uggggh. But thanks for listening, anyway 😉

            • #512350

              Ah yes, the gov’t. When I worked for the Dade State Attorney’s Office (eons ago) we had a sign “1. Reno’s always right. 2. When Reno’s wrong, refer to Rule 1 above.”

              But, we’re not outta the ballpark yet (I’m nothing if not persistent).

            • #519200

              Hi Karen–

              Thanks so much for this! What a cool idea!

              (Sorry for the VERY slow response…Could be indicative of a gov’t agency, but the truth is I was away for a few months, and of course, no one missed the fix to the problem. Oh, well.)

              Cecilia 🙂

            • #519239

              Hi Cecilia:

              Couldn’t you also store your macros with the document that’s on the web? In other words (no pun intended), you store a document, not a template, on the web. Then when your form is downloaded, it will already have your macros with it.

            • #519243

              Actually, that was one of the first things I tried. But then certain things like AutoNew and AutoOpen weren’t available. It was just a big mess.

              Anyway, I seem to have struck a deal with TPTB. I created a toolbar of documents for the field users. Now they have all the forms at their disposal even offline, and all the code works properly (and the documents have their templates!). The only web pages are the installation instructions (a batch file that loads the main template) and the update pages, showing which documents have been updated.

              I’m quite a happy camper at the moment. Only one person doesn’t see how this has streamlined the process, but you can’t please everybody!

            • #519269

              I won’t tell TPTB, but check out this thread for an actual intranet solution (complete with lots of configuration changes on the client machines):

              Re: Workgroup Templates

            • #519476

              Edited by wcutler on 01/03/23 00:59.

              I didn’t have to configure anything, in the end. I just created the shortcut, renamed it to a short name without a LNK extension so that the DOS name would be similar, and used the DOS name of the shortcut (with the .lnk extension) for the link. I put all the shortcuts in a directory on the web server so they wouldn’t show in Word when people use file|new.

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